Tampa, FL (Sports Network) – Dominic Moore led a lethal power play with two goals on the man-advantage, as the Tampa Bay Lightning dealt the Dallas Stars their first defeat with a 5-4 victory at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Steven Stamkos added a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who improved to 4-1-0 this season after converting on 4-of-5 power play opportunities. That matched the team’s total from its first four games combined, when it went 4- for-19.
Steve Downie scored once and also had an assist, while Sean Bergenheim tallied for the Lightning, who outshot the Stars, 44-19. Mike Smith needed to make just 15 saves to earn the win.
“Everybody was on the same page in tonight’s game and it showed in the results,” said Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina. “We outshot them and gave up very few shots against. The power play was good, the penalty killing was good, so that’s the way we have to play.”
Brenden Morrow had a goal and an assist, and Adam Burish, James Neal and Toby Petersen also scored for the Stars, who had their season-opening four-game win streak come to an end. Kari Lehtonen was unable to prevent the onslaught, allowing all five goals on 44 shots in the loss.
With the game tied at two nearing the midway point of the second, Bergenheim’s tip-in at the 9:26 mark put the Lightning ahead for good. Moore added to the Lightning lead with a power play marker at 18:06, redirecting a Kubina shot from the slot past Lehtonen, who had shifted to stop the initial shot.
Moore scored again on the power play 6:11 into the third before he was countered by an unassisted tally from Morrow 13 seconds later.
Neal took a nifty feed from Brad Richards with about a minute to play and blistered a rocket shot past Smith to cut Dallas’ deficit to one. Lehtonen was pulled to give the Stars a better chance to tie it and Tampa Bay was called for a late penalty, but Smith made a couple key stops in the final moments to preserve the victory.
“That’s a good sign,” said Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas. “We want to be known as a hard working team. I think in the third we knew we had to force the play. We made a comeback but we came up just a little short.”
The Stars scored with 4:54 left in the first while shorthanded. Petersen snatched the puck away from a Tampa Bay defenseman before streaking down the ice alone. He rocketed a wrister from the right circle, beating Smith on the stick side for the lead.
Tampa Bay, though, responded with two consecutive tallies before the period ended to move ahead.
With 3:39 to go, while still on the same power play during which Petersen scored, Downie redirected a Martin St. Louis slapshot past Lehtonen on the short side. The Lightning received another power play late in the stanza, and Stamkos cleaned up a rebound with 13.2 ticks remaining for a 2-1 lead.
Dallas managed to tie it in the second on Burish’s first tally of the year at the 6:04 mark.
Game Notes
The Stars have lost their last two trips to Tampa Bay after winning eight straight…Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier (hand) did not play…Richards extended his point streak to five games with a late assist…Dallas went 0- for-5 on the power play.
10/19 00:01:32 ET